Supporting-roller for conveyers.



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(Application mum. 1, l1mm.)

, (mi indem i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM I. MANN AND NORWELL C. NEEMES, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVA- NIA, ASSIGNORS TO T-HEMSELVES AND EUGENE L. MESSLER, OF PITTS.

BURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

SUPPORTING-ROLLER FOR CONVEYERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 714,812, dated December 2, 1902.

Application iiled March 1, 1902. Serial No. 96,299. (No model.)

J ctZZ whom. it may concern.

Beit known thatwe, WILLIAM I. MANN and NORWELL C. NEEMEs, citizens of the United f States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Supporting-Rollers for Conveyers, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to that class ot' con- Io veyers in which an endless conveyer-beltis Y employed, curved transversely to form atravcling trough or channelin twhich the material to be conveyedfrom one point to another is placed, the invention residing particularly i 5 in the construction of the supporting-rollers `or pulleys over which the ccnveyerbelt passes.

' In conveyers of the class referred to it is common to employ a transversely-cu rved carzo rier-belt supported upon separated angularlyarranged rollers or pulleys. An objection has arisen, however, to this means of supporting the carrier-belt in that experience has demonstrated that the belt breaks or splits z5 longitudinally into three strips along lines coincident with the angles or points of intersection of the adjacent rollers or pulleys with each other. Our invention is designed to overcome this objection by arranging the l 3o supporting rollers or pulleys in groups having concaved bearing-surfaces, the members of each grouplying in close relation to each other and the bearing surface or rim of each member forming a practically unbroken con- 3 5 tinuation of the surface of the adjacent roller or rollers.

The details of our invention will hereinafter" appear, and the novel features thereof will be set forth in the claims. 4o In the drawings forming part of this speci- Y fication, Figui-el is a longitudinal sectional view l of a group of supportingrollers constructed in accordance with` our invention. Fig. 2 is anV endelevation of the same. Fig.

3 is a cross-sectional lview of the shaft on the d line 3 3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is adetail sectional View of one of the rollers, and Fig. 5 is an elevation of a modified construction.

Like reference-numerals indicate like parts 5o in the different views.

The carrier or conveyer belt l may be made of any suitable flexible material and may be driven from any suitable source of power. The same is transversely curved to'form a traveling channel or trough and moves in contact with supporting-rolls arranged at suitable intervals throughout its length,as shown. Said supporting-rolls are arranged in groups, each group being mounted upon a shaft 2, having suitable bearings at its ends in the 6o supports or uprights 3. We have shown each group ofsupporting-rollers made up of five members, the central member 4being keyed or otherwise secured to the shaft 2 and the members 5, 6, 7, and 8 loose or freely mov- 65 able upon said shaft. It is obvious, however, that the central member 4 of each group of supporting rollers or pulleys may be loose upon the shaft 2 and that a greater or smaller number of roller members may be employedin 7o each group. The roller or member 4 of each group extends on opposite sides of the center of the shaft 2`and has its periphery or bearingsurface concaved, as shown. The smallest diameter of the roller 4 is at its center, Where- 75 as its largest diameter is at each end. The rollers or members 5 6 of each group lie in close relation to the opposite ends ofthe roller 4 and the peripheries or bearing-surfaces of said rollers or members 5 6 are concave, but the in- 8o ner ends of the same are of substantially the same diameter as the outer or adjacent en'ds of the roller or member 4. The outer end of each of the members or rollers 5 6 is of greater diameter than the inner end thereof. The members or rollers 7 and 8 lie in close relation to the outer ends of the rollers or members 5 6 and the peripheries or bearing-surfaces of said rollers 7 8 are concave. The inner end of each of said rollers is of substantially the 9o same diameter as the adjacent roller, whereas the outer ends of said rollers 7 Sare of greater diameterthan the inner ends thereof. The result of this construction and arrangement of parts is that each group of rollers has its outer periphery concave to conform to the shape of the carrier-belt 1,Which passes thereover, and the members of each group lie in substantially close relation to each other, with the outer or bearing surface of each forming Ioo a continuation of the outer or bearing surface of the adjacent rollers.

It has been stated that the rollers or members 5, 6, 7, and 8 of each group are loose orv freely movable upon the shaft 2, whereas the central member or roller 4 may be either fast to or loose upon said shaft. This arrangement is provided to prevent friction between the supporting-rollers and the belt 1 and consequent wear of the latter due to the more rapid rotation of the end or largest roller of each group, which wear would necessarily take place if any except the central or smaller roller of each group were fastened to the shaft on which said rollers were mounted. A bushing or bearing-sleeve 8a is interposed between the hub of each of the freely-movable rollers or members of each group and the shaft 2 on whichthe same rotate. The said shaft is also provided at each end with a bore 9, provided with transverse passages 10, leading outwardly therefrom at points opposite the central portions of the hubs of the movable rollers. This construction is provided for the purpose of enabling lubricating material-to be supplied to the bearings of said rollers. The outer end of the bore 9 at each end of the shaft 2 is preferably plugged and an inlet-opening 1l is provided opposite the bearings of the shaft 2 in the standards 3 for the admission of oil or lubrieating material to the bearings of the rollers. It will be obvious, of course, that if the central member or roller 4 of each group of supporting-rollers is loose upon the shaft 2 said shaft itself may be fixed in position and the bore 9 in said shaft will be extended far enough to supply lubricating material to said central roller.

As an obvious modification of our invention we may make each of the differentgmembers of each group of rollers or pulleys in the form of the frustum of a cone, this construction being clearly illustrated in Fig. 5 of the drawings-that is to say, each of the pulleys or Y members 12, 13, 14, l5, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and

21 may have the peripheries or bearing-surfaces thereof straight in longitudinal section instead of concave, as shown in the preferred form of our invention. The result of this construction is practically the same as that obtained when each member or roller of each group is concave, as each group of supporting-rollers presents a concave bearing-surface for the support of the carrier-belt l, which moves thereon. r

Having now described our invention, what.

we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a conveyer, a trough-shaped conveyerbelt and a support therefor, comprising a group of independently-rotatable rollers or pulleys of diiferentdiameters, the peripheries of which unitedly form a concave bearingsurface for said belt.

2. In a conveyer, a trough-shaped conveyerbelt and a support therefor, comprising a shaft and a group vof independently-rotatable rollers or pulleys of different diameters thereon, the peripheries of said rollers unitedly forming a concave bearing-surface for said belt.

3. In a conveyer, a trough-shaped conveyerbelt and asupport therefor, comprisinga shaft and a group of independently-rotatable rollers or pulleys of different diameters set end to end thereon, each of said rollers increasing in diameter toward the ends of the group, and the adjacent ends of each pair of said rollers being of substantially the same diameter, the said rollers unitedly forming a concave beariugsurface for said belt.

4. In a conveyer, a trough-shaped conveyerbelt and asupport therefor, comprisingashaft and a group of independently-rotatable rollers or pulleys of different diameters set end to end thereon, each of said rollers having a concave periphery and increasing in diameter toward the ends of the group, and the adjacent ends of each pair of said rollers being of substantially the same diameter, the said rollers unitedly forming a concave bearingsurfaee for said belt.

5. In a conveyer, a support for a troughshaped conveyer-belt, comprising a shaft and va group of independently-rotatable rollers or pulleys of different diameters set end to end thereon, the rollers of smallest diameter being located at the center of the group and secured to said shaft, and the remaining rollers being loose upon said shaft, each of said rollers having a concave periphery and increasing in diameter toward the ends of the group, andthe adjacent ends of each pair of said rollers being of substantially the same diameter, the said rollers unitedly forming a concave bearing-surface for said belt.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM I. MANN.

' NORWELL C. NEEMES.

Witnesses:

JOHN JENKINS, ELLA J ENKINs.

ICO 

